Dear friends,
After weeks of heat, 35 degrees every day, we finally had rain on the 14th, but it came with a heavy thunderstorm. A tree was hit 20 meters in front of our house and some things in the house were „fried“ including my computer, which was just lying in its bag on the table. But the rain was enough that the grass started to grow. Setting up a new computer is definitely not one of my favorite jobs, but the rain was very important and we can be very happy about that.
I was hoping to be able to report on the well drilling, but the company doesn’t want to come until next week. The construction of two fish ponds announced in the last letter is finished and the little fish have been growing for three weeks. We put 800 small breams, a local type of tilapia fish, into each of the ponds. The fish will improve our local income. Since we already have a marketing infrastructure with a freezer room and our shop in Kalomo, fish farming should fit in well. After the rain, the grass around the ponds will now grow quickly.
A few weeks ago, cases of anthrax, a contagious and potentially fatal bacterial infection, appeared in the Zambezi Valley. According to many farmers and veterinarians, the veterinary office overreacted and imposed a ban on the transport of animals or animal products for the entire Southern Province. Since this week we are not even allowed to deliver our slaughtered and frozen chickens. If chickens could be carriers of the disease, we shouldn’t be allowed to deliver vegetables, because a sick cow could have walked across the vegetable field. So we not only have meteorological challenges, but also man-made problems.
Agricultural school
Our graduation ceremony this year will take place on December 1st. So we are in the final stretch and we can be very satisfied with the academic and practical work of our students this year.
We have already enrolled 18 new students for the start of school in January.
Primary school
the elementary school will close on December 8th. The final exam for the 7th and 9th grades took place three weeks ago and so we employed five students to do holiday work on the farm.
By drilling a well, we will improve the water supply to the primary school.
Family
Our son-in-law David is still waiting for his Zambian residence permit. During our visit to Germany a few months ago, we discovered that foreigners in Germany sometimes don’t fare any better when it comes to the „speed“ of processing applications. So we keep waiting.
We are now mainly hoping for more rain.
We send warm greetings for today
Your Klaus and Christiane